About Arabic Names

History

• The majority of Arabic names, both feminine and masculine, are derived from Islam. They are names that are meant to glorify God or to express the parents' faith in Islam. Other names are poetic and are drawn from earlier, pre-Islamic times and are usually the names of heroes or heroines from early Arabic poetry. A small amount of other names are descriptions of things that are considered beautiful in Arab cultures such as horses, light, roses and lions.

Significance

• Many masculine names begin with the letter "A" and are mostly related to the religion of Islam. The most common of these is a name that is prefaced with "Abdul" or "Abdel" both mean "Servant of" and the portion following is one of the many appellations of God in Arabic, such as "Abdul Jabbar" which means "Servant of the Mighty" or "Abdel Karim" which means "Servant of the Gentle One." The majority of masculine names have some Islamic connotation, but not all. For instance, Fahd in a popular name in the Middle East (King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, for instance) and means "lynx" while "Abbas" (as in Mahmoud Abbas) is a description of the virtues of a lion. Finally, some names reflect the pride a parent feels in their child. Hassan means "handsome" and Mu'tazz means the "proud" or "mighty" one.

Function

• Names for Arabic women also tend to reflect a devotion to Islam. Some are drawn from the Prophet Mohammed's relatives, such as Fatima (his daughter) or "Zahra" or "al Zahra," which means the "bright one" (a nickname the Prophet gave to his daughter). Other names reflect the Arab appreciation for beauty in a poetic sense. Habibah means "the beloved one" and Maysan is a small star. Latifah (as in Queen Latifah) means "gentle" while Jada (as in Jada Pinkett Smith) means "gift" or "a present." Finally, Arabic feminine names can be drawn from older, pre-Islamic times as well and have essentially lost their meaning over time. May, for example, is a uncommon, but not unheard of name with no real meaning in Arabic. Similarly, Usaimah or Usaymah is an old Arabic name that carries no direct meaning.

Types

• Arabic names have worked their way into the names of Western people as well. The name Benjamin (Benjamin Franklin, for example) is actually a corruption of the name "Bin Yameen" which means "son of James." Until recently, many Arabic surnames reflected the "Bin Yameen" example and called upon the lineage of the child. For example, in any given town or neighborhood in the Middle East there may be a dozen or more boys with the name "Mohammed." In order to differentiate between them, the name of the father was added as a surname; Mohammed Bin Yameen means "Mohammed (is) the son of James." Once the child had grown into a man and fathered a child of his own, his surname may also change. He might become Mohammed Abu Khalid, which means "Mohammed (is) the father of Khalid."

Features

• Female names, however, were slightly different throughout history. They bore their family names throughout their life and usually received appellations only after they had a child. Their familiar, or "given," name was rarely used after they had given birth, especially as they grew older. Their names became linked with their children through the Arabic word for mother, "Umm." Therefore, a woman who bears a child named Khalid would be called "Umm Khalid" out of respect for her. Arabic women retained their surnames even after they were married. Other surnames, for both men and women, grew out of their association with a certain town, region, or nation. For example, a man from Egypt moved to Syria and opened up a store there. His last name then, would reflect his origins by adding a letter "i" to the end of the Arabic word for Egypt, Misr. Therefore, the man's surname would become "al-Misri" meaning "the Egyptian."

Considerations

• In the twentieth century, Arab governments moved toward standardizing surnames so there is now a less mercurial naming system. The Turkish people, for example, had similar naming conventions, but after World War One, Attaturk (the leader of Turkey after 1922) decreed that all Turks must choose a surname that would be permanent for their family. Similarly, the Egyptian government moved to standardize names for bureaucratic reasons and other countries have since followed suit. The surnames of most Arab people reflect the chosen surname of a distant ancestor now and do not change over the generations. Women may still retain their family's surname, however.